


WD-40

by yoongleboong



Category: Stray Kids (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, F/M, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Gender-neutral Reader, Happy Ending, Kissing, M/M, Mentioned Park Jisoo | Jihyo, One Shot, Other, Strangers to Lovers, carguy!changbin, mentions of eating
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-13
Updated: 2021-02-01
Packaged: 2021-03-09 23:35:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,481
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27960884
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yoongleboong/pseuds/yoongleboong
Summary: When he excitedly mentioned how useful the multi-purpose product was as a general rust dissolver, you hadn't paid much mind to it as you chuckled at his hearty declaration of gratitude towards the great thing that WD-40 is, but when your rusty love life happened to find it's own WD-40, you can't help but agree that it really is a great invention.
Relationships: Bang Chan & Lee Felix, Han Jisung | Han/Hwang Hyunjin, Seo Changbin/Reader, Seo Changbin/You
Kudos: 13





	1. Dissolved

**Author's Note:**

> I honestly don't know why I wrote this but it is cheesy. And it will have a cheesy epilogue as well. <3

You vividly remember how soul-crushing it felt to "pursue" a major that you had absolutely no interest in. You had tried your best, but to maintain your barely passing grades, you had also given up every single social need of yours since you started college, not being able to spare a single extra glance at anyone between your tight studying schedules, let alone making friends. 

It upset you greatly, especially since almost everything you suffered for was just to stop your parent's harsh scoldings about your real interests, but considering their current topic of displeasure called "your horrible grades", it didn't even work. So you eventually decided that at least one of the two sides should be happy, and that was going to be you.

You spent your spring break of the sophomore year organizing your portfolio, trading your books, and apply for an AAD. Aside from your visual proof of talent and interest in the field, you also felt a powerful rush of emotions, every single cell in your body cheering for you. 

_You knew you were going to be just as busy, if not more, but the glow that came to your face and the rise of positive thoughts in your head assured you that you were going to do a great job of enduring it all._

Not that you needed any more validation for it, but the universe was really with you with this process as well, unlike your parents, and you managed to score a shared house along with your approval for the change of major. 

You made sure to display and organize every single material you had as your new spaces staple pieces and with maximum efficiency for using them, chest swelling with joy and affection at the sight of your crafting supplies being treated with appreciation like they very much deserved. You occasionally shivered lightly at the image of your crates collecting dust over a bookshelf full of messy sources about your old classes.

Where you currently live could be easily called an art student-neighborhood inside the campus, average built shared homes, and lofts at both sides of the road with every patio carrying a different vibe, mirroring the creative students living inside. Even though some were completely empty, dusty, and lifeless, most of them were adorned with cute paper lanterns and humble patio sets.

You got lucky enough to share a house with a cool-insider and upper-class student named Jihyo, and she mostly isn't home. You didn't get to make friends with her yet, but she had been very nice, always making sure to greet you when you see each other and a decently tidy housemate. 

While the housing option here was very appealing, you being tight on time kind of put you in a pinch to find a sustainable way to get to your classes, since this area dedicated to the humble buildings was relatively far away, and in a more rural area compared to the main buildings. The weather was great at the start, so you actually could get up a little earlier to walk or catch the rare shuttles your classes depending on the time, and spend time in the common areas if you were early. 

_Jihyo, on the other hand, almost always left the house carpooling with some of her friends, apparently not having to care about commuting and/or bad weather unlike you._

When late fall came around, and therefore the approaching winter, you actually did need a car to commute, for yourself. You had been on numerous online car-dealer mail subscriptions for months now, but after your major changed and you moved to this house, the budget _AND_ time became even tighter, so you finally accepted your fate and ended up with an older, used Civic you had been eyeing as your emergency deal to spend your savings on. 

_Her name is Cindy the Civic. Yeah. She has been great!_

The house next to yours is a loft-style small house, and 3 presumably music major guys are living together. _(Sometimes you feel the ground vibrate a little with the bass beats coming from over there, so it's just a wild guess.)_ They had been careful enough to not keep you or anyone around there from y'alls sleeps so far, though.

 _And then there's this guy, there,_ he's very _delici_ \- good looking. He might have been keeping your mind busy a little, instead.

Since the first day you saw him from your room's window, he had been wearing casual black daily, with worn-out Dr. Martens, usually busy at his driveway, ( _that is unless he has a color day, then he would wear pink statement pieces that he pulls off just as fine._ ) and a focused frown on his face. 

He felt like he was one of those "main character" people, and his aura very much called for a theme song as well. _(You had a strong feeling that it could easily be Arctic Monkeys's "Do I Wanna Know?".)_

Sadly enough, you didn't really get to interact as you and his friends are busy with your own stuff and schedules, but you were almost certain that they are sweethearts, having seen the car guy with the warmest smile on his face on multiple occasions, as his friends brought him bottles of water when he is busy fixing his project car and hoodies on chilly days with jokes and grateful pats exchanged. 

And yes, you still called him "the car guy" even though you weren't exactly a new resident anymore, sue the very intense introvert you grew into being. _Let's just say you had always felt a little safer to observe a while before you decide to introduce yourself to people._

He has a glossy black Chevy Nova project car that he is restoring in his free time ( _and he surely does MAKE time for it._ ). It's on the side of their driveway, parked, with a cover on, or depending on the weather, on a lift. ( _Every time you see him sliding under and out of the car on a skateboard you can't help but shudder.)_

But other than your interesting neighbors, it's was just the new routine you had established, and the immense feeling of freedom, accomplishment since now you were finally doing things you were good at, and learning things without it feeling like torture.

...Until your beloved car had decided to act up one morning when you rushed out of the house, supposedly on your way to the campus. It's panel kept flashing a sign and you didn't have time to figure it out, since you definitely did not want to be late for your new favorite professor's lecture.

You dreaded the flip through the manual and the guy on youtube kept shaking a small device to the camera and chanted, " _I_ _t will be an easy peasy job to determine the issue with this!_ " and nothing else, and you certainly did not have that thing either. 

You hauled up your bag helplessly from the passenger seat with a groan and started to stomp your way to the bus stop after shutting down the hood and locking the car.

"Hey!"

Your head snapped towards the only other person outside this early, _and it's the car guy._ "?"

"Uh, good morning! I figured you needed help and um, want me to give you are ride to the campus? I was on my way there as well." he said, hand on their other shared car's handle.

You eyed the road to the bus stop for a second before smiling to him, "I would really appreciate it if it's not a burden..." 

"None at all. Hop in!"

He introduced himself as you were backing out to the driveway, his name definitely not "car guy" but _Seo Changbin_ , and you aren't sure if the reason for your blush is the max-ed out air-con he kindly adjusted towards you or the very observant and considerate assurance he gave you to help with your car as soon as he can. 

_(Or he might have just felt pity if he actually heard your muffled curses and saw your legs dangling, butt in the air as you hope to see what was wrong under the open hood at ass o'clock on a dark December morning.)_

You exchanged numbers while you thanked him a billion times before dashing towards your lecture, and you spent the rest of the weekdays taking the bus and occasionally commuting with him (and his friends) if he saw you stepping out of the door.

The rides are usually calm when you are able to hop in along, and they have been nothing but kind towards you when you did, with definitely great company as they hum along to the radio, chat, and bicker light-heartedly as one particular Jisung keeps asking you to confirm that he is the right one when he isn't singing and pointing an imaginary microphone to the other two, including you.

You learned that they are indeed producing music, both academically and as artists, making sure to follow them on their socials and music platforms after they played one of their songs for you.

As you had several chances to join them, even if it consisted of short trips to the classes, every time you saw Changbin wearing a warm smile or heard Chan laugh along to Jisung's antics you felt really happy and somehow lucky that your brat of a car actually caused you to meet them. You truly enjoyed accompanying the guys and could only hope that you grew on them as well.

When a less busy weekend finally came around, Changbin showed up to check on your car after texting you to ask if you were available.   
It didn't take much time for him to tell you that it was just good ol’ dust n rust on the bolts and one tiny cable connection went bad on the battery after he checked the alert in the dashboard, and briefly eyed the parts that looked beaten up.   
"Let me put you onto this thing," he sighed with a smile as he wiggled a familiar looking bottle towards you. "Since I'm dealing with a rusty baby myself, it comes in handy!"

(He also mentions that it's not a car-only thing but a general rust dissolver/lubricant and gets flustered a little when you pat his shoulder and thank him with a chuckle at his hearty declaration of gratitude towards the great thing that WD-40 is.)

What surprises you the next is your inner turmoil about how short it took him and that you were actually kind of sad, wondering if he was going to completely dip and go back to being near-strangers, now that the reason to keep in touch was gone. You tried to come up with something as you watch him pack his toolset and bag calmly with a hum of a song you haven't heard before.

"Wow," you huffed, "It really lasted much less than I thought."

He slyly smirked as he straightened up and faced you, "Well, it's a good thing right?"

_Damn it, you probably made it too obvious with the tone._

Averting your gaze to the ground, you muttered a quiet "Yeah,"

His confused stare was so endearing when you added, 

"Let me just get my purse, I won't be long!"

He abruptly stopped dusting his knees and his eyes widened impossibly, shaking his hands wildly towards you, "What?! No, no, no! I can't accept any form of payment for such a simple thing, besides, I was the one who promised you before you even said anything!" 

You raised your hands defensively at his almost panicked state, "Um, are you sure?" 

"Yeah!" A pause, "What about we get coffee sometime instead?" 

_Adorable._ "Deal." You can't help the huge smile on your face as you thank him once again and tell him that you will be waiting for a heads up.

It was not-so-conveniently the exam week for you a few days later, and both your interactions with boys and the "heads-up" completely gets erased from your mind with an exception of the reminder that your neighbors exist, in the form of constant faintly-heard beats.

After a few consecutive days of struggle with your projects and itching eyes, you finally manage to catch a lighter day to treat yourself to a nicer dinner, your stomach rumbling sadly as a cry for proper food. 

Jihyo isn't home today for dinner time either, so you freely put on some music and place the phone in a safer corner of the kitchen, mood volatile, now that the constant bass beats you feel under your feet aren't bugging you into stress anymore. 

...Speaking of bass beats, you pause for a second to glance at the boiling pot of pasta noodles before you decide that you could go ahead and help the poor dudes in their stressful time, as they did for you. Instead of making a rich sauce for your pasta, you decided to keep it as your side dish before starting up a huge pressure cooker of soup with now four people in mind.

_No, definitely not to catch up with your adorably compact hero, sneak: 100_

Tasting it to see it was edible enough after putting in some special effort into cutting your ingredients and cooking, you only took yourself a single serving and hauled the whole thing there, three probably malnourished _AND_ stressed males probably craving it more than you could ever eat on your own.

You stood a while at the door after ringing the bell, staring at your stupid printed socks peeking through your slippers, until you break into a grin as you hear someone yell in confusion, _"How the hell did you sneaky bastards manage to order food in between all this work?!"_ _It's Jisung._

His furrowed brows shot up in surprise when he swung open the door, "Oh, hello there. What's up?" 

You gently held out the pot towards him with a smile,

"I made some soup to treat myself after a week of instant food, but it's a bit too much for me to finish without it spoiling, so uh, hope you enjoy it!"

His eyes are wide as saucers as he takes the pot from your hands and tries to comprehend what you just said before he hollers in joy to call others like it was something sent by the lords above. "Yah! Chan Hyung! Changbin Hyung! Come here you two!" 

You were just about to stop him from continuing to shout like a mad man, but the other two rushed and toppled over him in curiosity, making the big lump swerve for a moment,  
"Hello!!" Chan chirps while he eyes the pot between Jisung's hands, and Changbin smiles as he greets you with a "Hi, What's up!" 

Jisung decides to save you from the work of repeating yourself as best as he could at the moment, shoving the pot into Chan's hands as he points out, "Food!"

They go into a short-circuit moment as they stare at each other, gazes going back and forth to the pot with a blank smile, and this time Changbin pitches in and ushers them inside with an almost disappointed glare.  
They shout a "Thank you so much!" in perfect unison, while you watch them struggle to open the lid as they walk out of vision.  
"Yeah, thank you for the food," Changbin starts, "You see, they are kind of... At the edge of their sanity with no sleep,"   
"Aw, I see. You will be fine, okay, hang in there! Um, I... figured it would be nice if I could help in any way," you tell him with an empathetic smile in return.

You talk for a bit more to catch up, he makes sure to express his gratitude in between and explains their state with how they were assigned one "OST tracks" each for the week, which are actually due tomorrow, and how bad they needed a pick me up between all the work.   
After you are back home, you can't help but feel extra satisfied with the decision after seeing their spent state. You enjoy your now a-little-cold food with a light heart.

Two days later, at 10:30 AM sharp on a Saturday morning, someone knocks on your door. You get up with a faint groan, not very happy to leave your warm spot on the couch, a little spaced out and still half-dreaming. "Coming!"

You glance at yourself in the mirror in your entryway, a very appealing(!) pajama fit with bed head as your accessory, and a frown settles to your features as you pull open the door.

"Good Morni-... ng?" 

"Changbin!? Uh, Hello. Yes, good morning!" _ew, you._

You instinctively scooted behind the door a little. He's obviously a little taken aback with your appearance but has a wholesome look to his eyes, 

“I, uh. Was here for the coffee we talked about some time ago, did you not check your phone yet?” 

_oop_

He is all ready to go, with the pressure cooker in tow, and you invite him inside after a brief moment to take it in, rubbing at your face in embarrassment. 

"It's okay," he assures with a smile, "We can do it some other time if you aren't feeling yourself, I should've just waited until you saw the texts." 

"No! No, uh, take a seat please, it will only be a minute!" 

"You sure?" He asks as he watches you rush somewhere inside. 

_I am SO dumb,_ you think to yourself as you go through your clothes, _his texts were actually so kind and cute, and it would be very cute of you if you hadn't forgotten to turn off DND too._

You quickly threw on the clothing and put on some jewelry you knew that were fool-proof classics, but when you checked yourself in the mirror, you couldn't help but scoff at your outfit that was painfully similar to his, _l_ _ike come on, mirroring? Really? Already???_

Not wanting to make him wait any longer, you just made your way back to the living room and found him chilling at the couch, eyes looking around and listening to the music channel you left on. He brightens up immediately and jumps up to his feet with a little shrug.

You suppress a smile as you gather your things and pick a flat soled boot. _It's his day._

"You look great," you hear him mumble as he tugs on his stompers. 

_And yes, you let him be the big boy he is._

"Thank you! you aren't too bad yourself." you manage to get out without cooing. 

He scoffs with a smile at the last part, "Right? So, do you have a place in mind?" 

"Nope! Suprise me. I just need a proper coffee to function."

"You got it."

He offers to take you to his usual cafe, and you can't help but ask if it was Starbucks with a dramatic shudder with the mention of the over-hyped chain.

"Oh my God, No! It's not Starbucks," he assures with a giggle.

_...??? The moment his boyish laugh touches your eardrums, it's like Big Bang all over again, help._

You manage to calm your heart down as you get used to his presence just like before, and it's a smooth drive with cute attempts to catch up and occasional directions he is giving you on the way to the cafe.

After a short ride, you are now parked in front of a minimal-indie place, " _Cafe0325_ ". 

He is _SO SMUG_ when he goes, "So...You are a _Safe_ driver, noted." and pushes your buttons a bit more as he adds, "We are literally neighbors and this road takes me 5 minutes at worst."

You can't help but roll your eyes as you mirror his smile, "Whatever, Hamilton.*"

He rushes before you to open the door into the huge white space, with plush white love seats, coffee tables with other very minimal decore, and huge pots of Pampas grass. 

Changbin follows close after you and greets the baristas, _Hyunjin_ and _Seungmin_. After welcomes, you order for yourself, and Hyunjin turns to Changbin, wiggles his brows as he asks, “Anything else I can get for you?” and eyes darting continuously in between you two.

You huff out a dumbfounded laugh as you watch Seungmin rush over to his side of the counter and slap his neck gently and takes Changbin's order instead. 

He is Fuschia colored as he thanks his friend and gently ushers you to find a seat and says he will follow with the drinks.

You decide not to corner him any further, making your way into the back of the cafe and score a bright spot close to the heater. He soon approaches with a tray without eye contact and sets a small plate of assorted pastries as he mumbles, “I assumed you didn't have any breakfast yet, so eat up.” 

It's your turn now to join him with Fuschia tinted cheeks, and you thank him as you tug your scarf off and lightly fan at your face when he turns to the side and shrugs his thick leather jacket off.

_You are sure you aren't cooling down anytime soon, with how attractive he looks with his black turtleneck and amazing set of accessories he chose for today._

After the first blow your senses, you two soon fall into a comfortable chatter. He wasn't just physically attractive, you found out, he was not only very attentive, but he also had amazing manners and maintained plenty of healthy eye contact with you while talking. Not to mention how passionate he was for his music, his eyes lighting up with countless stars the more you showed interest. You were so glad to get to know him personally like this, since a part of you was hesitant to figure out if he was one of those selfish men who are not only unable to shut up and listen for once, but also cherish materialistic things over compassion without any exceptions.

Subjects led to others, and you talked about how you actually ended up as their neighbor, and he told you about his beloved side project when you mentioned how impressed you were to see the car come alive slowly but surely with his efforts.  Then you hear him whisper a " _ cute" _ to no one in particular(!) as his eyes watch _ you  _ munch on a chocolate croissant and dust your cheeks at each bite. 

You stop and meet his eyes with your own ones wide as saucers, "!!"

He immediately ahems and straightens up, "Uh, haha, it's just that Jisung eats like that too but you're somehow more-"

Your eyes lit up with mischief as you watch him squirm and explain himself hurriedly, "BUT I DONT CALL NOR FIND HIM CUTE-" 

Nodding, you muttered, "I see," 

Giving him a big smile, you decided not to tease him and spare the guy as he seems just as nervous as you, and he mirrors the smile and drops his gaze down with a huff.

Hyunjin soon appears, after you are done with the now-empty dishes and takes them behind to the counter, but comes shortly back again with one huge glass of a drink at hand and two straws in it. 

“The new winter menu, on the house. Enjoy!” he winks at his friend(?) Changbin, and struts back. 

You see Seungmin facepalm at the corner of your eye as Changbin mutters a “what the f-” under his breath, body turned to the retreating figure. He turns back to face you slowly after a second and pushes the heavy drink towards you, “You can have it, don't mind him please.”

You put your hand on his to stop him from pulling his straw out, “No! it's fine, please!” with a chuckle.

He visibly contemplates it for a moment with an actually-content look to his face and sighs, "Okay," you watch him glance back once more, “You first, though.”

You leaned in to taste it with a small shrug, and approved immediately with a hum, “Wow, he really knows what he's doing!”

“Does he now?” he playfully asks as he dips down to see it for himself.

Not really sure what comes over you, but you follow his movement the second time, faces inches apart as you join him drink, and a small  _ "heuk- _ "  is heard, but he doesn't lean back immediately, just not meeting your eyes.  You are hyper-aware of everything as you realize how uncharacteristically bold you were being, and he's not even drinking. You hear a muffled  _ “it wOrkE- _ ” behind the counter and you lean back slowly with a grin, 

“Mhm, he does.”

The ride back is quiet, but not uncomfortable, you hum along to the radio together, and when you arrive back home in the late afternoon, he walks you to your door and you exchange "thank you"'s and "I had a great time"’s with hushed tones for no reason at all.

"So, will there be a next time, then," he tries, and adds quickly as your brows shoot up, “If you want to as well, that is?”

You smiled as you dropped your gaze to your feet for a second,  _ your mind was whirring with the memories of seeing him and wanting to approach him, somehow, but not being able to come up with a reason all Summer and Fall that you were their neighbors, adoring the way he was so persistent with the things he put his mind into apart from his charisma and looks, and all the mornings he so kindly took you to the campus, not forgetting to make sure you weren't cold every single time as he adjusted the fans to where you were sitting.  _

_ You didn't know it was so easy to grow fond of someone who just did the bare minimum, yet the thing with him was that it came naturally, rather than a sneaky effort to make a gain out of it. The sincerity.  _

You slowly met his gaze as you placed your hands on his shoulders, your already near figure where you stood on your doorstep getting a little closer to his, 

"Yeah, I would love that, actually."

He huffed a content hum as he closed the gap between your faces, and gave you a gentle kiss.

_ You could swear that he was half skipping as you watched him make his way back to their side from your kitchen window. How did you even find him intimidating in the first place? _

You couldn't help your lovestruck smile for the rest of the evening, as cheesy as everything was today, you were more than content with every decision that brought you to this point. 

**_ You could say that... _ _ your rusty love life happened to find it's WD-40, and it really is a great invention. _ **


	2. Prologue: Restored

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He drifted his way in your heart and now does 8 figures in there shamelessly. You cannot decide if you want to bite his cheek as payback or kiss him stupid sometimes. Yet at the end of the day, you don't mind some chaos if it's with him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Like the title reads as well, this is a prologue of the original story, WD-40 (Dissolved) and I would highly recommend reading that chapter first to be able to follow up with the storyline+relationships!  
> Enjoy! <3

"I should've just followed with the Miata..."

He lets out a dramatic gasp, head snapping at you to meet his eyes while he waited for Jisung to pick up the damn phone, "You don't mean it, take it back!"

"I very much do actually, Bin,"

He didn't waste time to shoot you a pout, plus a glare as he patted the steering wheel, "Don't be mean, will you? She is just a bit too delicate for a summer ride!"

You scoffed with a helpless smile at your current state as Changbin groaned next to you, his call falling busy for the fifth time.

 _If it weren't for the flash deal you found on the internet, both of you could probably plan this trip properly,_ you think to yourself. The "couple" listing you found for two units at an Airbnb, which offered a great discount if checked-in at the same time, sounded extremely good with your spent junior year-end states, and "luckily" Chan and Jisung did not mind sharing a bed. 

They took their shared car, and for some reason, decided to go full speed and left you two in the dust at the last half of the trip, and now Changbin's delicate Nova had to cool down her whole motor bay for an unknown amount of time until it was safe to continue driving. You weren't too far away, the GPS telling you had 20 minutes left to the main building. 

It was just that you were parked at a random road under full 1 PM sun and your friends were-

"Jisung!"

You snapped your head towards Changbin to finally figure out where they were.

"Where are we? Ha! Wouldn't you like to know you dumbass!?"

....

"God, I will strangle you someday I swear, Jisung. Wait there before you check-in or I will make a ukulele out of those chords of yours tonight."

...... 

"NO JISUNG!" Changbin warned him before ending the call. 

You followed him out of the car after he popped open the hood with a huff. He met your questioning eyes soon after, "This dude's gonna be the end of me."

"Pee rush?" you asked with a grin.

"Yeah!" Changbin scoffs with a tired shake of his head, "He says he played Mario Kart Soundtrack on full volume to make Chan rush over there so that he can pee, and his dumbass is going to cancel out the discount if we don't hurry there."

You weren't really surprised after all that time you were Jisung's friend, "Poor Chan."

Changbin just shrugged, "Go ahead sit inside for me, I will be there after I check everything."

You landed a quick peck to his cheek with a hum and made yourself comfortable, wondering how your Miata, Cherry was doing, parked all alone in your driveway. 

She was very precious to you, thanks to Changbin, and you found out a vehicle can actually mean a lot more than a chunk of metal that takes you places.

_It was your 1st anniversary, last December, and you were woken up with a call, Changbin instructing you to make your way to your patio urgently, but you have never been a morning person, so you had just calmly made your way to him standing next to the red roadster, hugged him with a yawn and said, "Congrats, baby! Don't make Nova jealous though,"_

_The pained confusion he went through could secure a place in history books. He eventually learned not to surprise you in the mornings. (Some tears were shed, kisses shared until you both got too cold for sob hours and went on a test drive.))_

_Shortly after the initial shock you went through, he told you that he could put your "old" car up for sale for you, and already knew someone who wanted to buy a car on a budget, you just needed to approve._

_You soon met Jeongin, an adorable freshman who was in a pinch to get him a reliable transportation to the campus, just exactly how you had been once. (You had given the car to him for less than what it was worth, and made an amazing friend in return.)_

You snapped out of your pleasant daze with Changbin settling into his seat. He looked much less stressed than before.

"We are good to go, but the a/c has to stay off until we make it there safely... So enjoy the fresh _warm_ air, baby!" he sarcastically chirped as you slowly took off to your destination.

After your short drive, the very second you parked in front of the building, the echo of a quickly approaching pair of flip flops were heard.

"Oh no," you muttered.

"FINALLY!"

"AH!!!" you screamed in unison as the flip flop wearer, one and only Han Jisung yanked Changbin's door open.

"Get off you mad lad! This car isn't for you to man-handle it like the caveman you are!" he said as he tried to yank Jisung's pulling arm away from his collar.

"Will you _PLEASE_ hurry then?!" Jisung rambles as he makes his way to the back of the car, "There! I will help with the bags, but just go check- in with Chan. GO!"

 _He really didn't need any soundtrack to mess with someone's head. He's born with it._

Although a chaotic start was a given with your friend group, what _(pleasantly)_ surprised you all was Chan's love-struck face after a quick talk with the "bellboy" who helped you to your small lofts. _"Felix,"_ Chan kept saying with a sigh, _"wasn't he just adorable??? He is an Aussie as well!"_ He was so gone.

The next morning, you and Changbin made your way to the beautiful riverside tables as you had planned to meet up with Chan and Jisung for breakfast. The gardens and plant arches you passed through was absolutely astonishing, and you couldn't help your content smile as you took everything in, one hand linked pinkies with Changbin.

You were almost there but, "There you are! Good Morning!" Jisung approached and greeted you instead, 

"I was just about to check up on you two! Chan convinced Felix to join us for breakfast after a whole night of texting... I can't believe my karma is turning against me with a fifth-wheeling punishment for abusing a game soundtrack yesterday!"

"Better get used to it," Changbin pointed with his stare at the mentioned guys chatting away. 

The way Chan has positioned himself almost halfway on top of the table while he listened to Felix's excited rambling was admirably obvious, "Oh my God, he is totally flirting." You said with a giggle.

Jisung just scoffed with a pout. 

The three of you soon came to agree with Chan's enthusiasm when it came to Felix though, it was impossible not to when he radiated "extreme sunshine energy" with an equally lovely smile and _freckles_ like he did _._

_You also decided he should be kept and carried in a shirt pocket after a couple of hours with how adorable he was, and you were especially glad to see Chan happy like this after a painfully tiring senior year._

The following days went by like the wind, days spent chatting away with your newest addition to the group and relaxing in the gardens or the luxurious amenities your houses had, and the calm nights filled with stargazing and singing along to songs at the rooftop.

"Well, this was miraculously less chaotic than I expected," Changbin said as you were making your way to the main lobby to check-out. 

"Right? I loved it here! Jisungie really needs to man up and confess to Hyunjin until next time, though." you replied with a giggle. 

He nagged your ear off about how painfully single he felt when he was next to you guys for the past couple of days and you actually felt bad watching him pace around the room with Hyunjin's contact screen on his phone. You and Changbin might have a cupid cosplay due soon. 

Jisung could be seen loading their bags into the car at the parking lot to your left as you got closer, and he perked up at the sound of your rolling pieces of luggage on the stone pathway. He had a small smile on his face as he pointed to the lobby and mouthed Chan's name. 

You shared a slightly concerned look with Changbin for a second, "Do you think he's going to be okay?"

"Hopefully? I don't think he would stop keeping in touch with him though, so it's kind of up to Felix after now," he replied with a huff. 

_._

_You know very well that they kept in touch. They kept in very close touch that Chan and Felix moved out to a close-by city soon after Chan graduated, living happier than ever in a studio full of flowers and plants with their calico named Cheez-it._

_This series of fortunate events caused an internal war within Jisung as he watched their relationship progress to the point Chan told him they decided to move in together._

_While he quickly got over his "Should I text Hyunjin?" era after your trip, Jisung was still not asking Hyunjin out officially despite Changbin and your efforts (and Hyunjin's surprisingly continuous attention span towards him, which you came to understand is a very rare occasion.)._

_Apparently, Chan's moving out was the last straw._

_That same night, Jisung called you and Changbin over around 8 PM, and you two obviously went and accompanied him as he shed a couple of tears and popped a few snot balloons until he suddenly decided on "something", shot up from where he was sitting, gathered his stuff, and left, all done in thirty seconds._

_It took an interesting hour on your part for him to show up at the door again, but this time he had a death grip on a very tired and panting Hyunjin's hand._

_"BOYFRIEND" he screamed with his last bit of energy when they made it inside, and he flopped down onto the floor and pulling Hyunjin with him._

_(Later on, you learned that he forgot to take his car keys and went to the cafe running, panted his confession out and the second he got his answer he took off with Hyunjin back home, running. It was truly a miracle how they ended up together.)_

_This series of events was also a great start of changes for everyone, and_ _in your case, it was Changbin moving in with you for your last year in college together, since Jihyo was a senior and graduated the year just like Chan did._ _Changbin frequently hung out with you given that he was conveniently your next-door neighbor anyway, so there was no harm to give Jisung space since he was now a man with a "BOYFRIEND!"_

_Changbin also seemed to take all the change in the dynamics rather well, between all the daily work, you both always made sure to check up on each other's well-being._  
_So you asked him again one day when you were sat huddled up in the living room couch on a cozy weekend night, and the way he looked up to your face from where he was settled almost made you coo out loud._  
_He started with taking a deep breath in, "I could not have thought of a better outcome for all of us, baby. Lucky me, I won from the very start, so now I'm just helping my friends and having the time of my life doing it."_  
_You couldn't help your smile as he reached up and gave you a gentle kiss. Cuddling further in content with a glance to Changbin's face, it was obvious that you had also won._

_He drifted his way in your heart and now does 8 figures in there shamelessly. You cannot decide if you want to bite his cheek as payback or kiss him stupid sometimes. Yet at the end of the day, you don't mind some chaos if it's with him._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *sighs* Finally!  
> This is a very late update for the quality of the work I know,,,,  
> But amidst of all h3ll breaking loose in my life, I hope it can cheer at least *someone* up!  
> Take care, everyone, mwah!

**Author's Note:**

> * ("Whatever, Hamilton"; Lewis Hamilton is a famous Formula1 racer.)  
> A/N: Please keep in mind that this AU isn't in a time of a global pandemic. Stay safe! <3


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